Citizen Kane: Difference between revisions

A classic film from 1941 and the most famous work of [[Orson Welles]]. It's considered by many critics to be the Greatest Film Ever Made or at least the first great "modern" film, but [[Mainstream Obscurity|most people only know it through]] [[Popcultural Osmosis]]. It's a popular subject of [[The Parody]] even though many people [[The Weird Al Effect|no longer know the original.]] One would never guess it was a Box Office Flop.

 

 

Aside from its famous ending, ''Kane'' is best remembered for pissing off William Randolph Hearst, who thought that the title character resembled him a little ''too'' much -- or perhaps he was angry that Welles's portrayal of Kane's mistress had destroyed the career and reputation of Marion Davies, Hearst's real life mistress. (In reality, Davies was a superb comedienne and a savvy businesswoman who had actually ''saved'' Hearst's publishing empire by giving him $1 million after he lost everything - and that was money she'd earned on the screen.) Welles denied that Kane was based on Hearst or any other specific individual, and later expressed regret that the character of Kane's mistress (which was actually based on the wives of Samuel Insull and Harold Fowler McCormick) was assumed by most moviegoers to be an [[Expy]] of Davies. No matter the reason, though, Hearst used his influence to kill any chance the film (and even some later Welles-directed films) had for commercial success.

Due to [[Small Reference Pools]], ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently used as a shorthand for "really great movie", especially by film critics. For example, a movie review might read "''Bad Movie'' is ''Citizen Kane'' compared to ''Awful Movie''." ''[[The Wicker Man]]'' <ref>(the original version)</ref>, for example, has been called "The ''Citizen Kane'' of horror movies", while ''[[The Social Network]]'' has been called "The ''Citizen Kane'' of the 21st century."<ref>This comparison is actually rather justified, however, as both films center on the rise of an [[Anti-Hero]] media mogul.</ref>

 

 

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* [[Video Credits]]: A clip of each major character is shown in the credits, except Kane himself.

* [[Whip Pan|Whip Pans]] are used in the breakfast table montage showing the deterioration of Kane's first marriage.

* [[The Wild West]]: Eight-year-old Kane grew up in 1871 Colorado; seen in a brief [[Flash Back]]

* [[What Might Have Been]]: Originally, the movie was going to be based on the life of Howard Hughes with Cotten in the lead. Eventually, Welles realized [[Reality Is Unrealistic|nobody would believe most of the stuff Hughes had done]], so he decided to make Kane a media baron instead.